29Synonyms found for push off/push on

Word Origin & History

push c.1300, from O.Fr. poulser, from L. pulsare "to beat, strike, push," frequentative of pellere (pp. pulsus) "to push, drive, beat" (see pulse (1)). The noun is first recorded 1570. Meaning "approach a certain age" is from 1937. Meaning "promote" (1714) led to pusher "peddler of illegal drugs," first recorded 1935 in prison slang (earlier it meant "prostitute," 1923). Pushy "forward, aggressive" first recorded 1936. To push (someone) around is from 1923. Phrase push comes to shove is from 1958; to push (one's) luck is from 1911. To push the envelope in figurative sense is late 1980s. Push-up, ...the exercise, is from 1906; to push up daisies "be dead and buried" is from c.1860. Push-button (n.) is from 1898; adj. sense "characterized by the use of push-buttons" is from 1946.